a higher tax next year, a higher tax on dividends is confidently expected. you avoid that if you get the dividend this year. 175 companies doing just that. all right, let's get at it, shall we. president obama's first offer fiscal cliff, higher taxes, new spending and power over the debt spending. and offered by tim geithner who had tax problems in the past and today president obama is it at a toy factory campaigning for new taxes on the rich. and joining us is julia. >> hi. stuart: how are you. >> i'm great. stuart: i can't believe that you, as a regular american, want to do this to america, do you? >> i think it's because-- i don't think that this is exactly what what's going to happen. stuart: you don't think that the president will actually do this. >> no, no, i think the president has learned to negotiate. what the president would do, he would start with sort of half a

loaf and negotiate and give the republicans about 75% of what they wanted. i think he's finally understood if you want to actually get to at least halfway, you have to start at extremes and meet halfway. republicans have done this all along. stuart: you agree with me, if this plan, anything like it from the president, were imposed on the economy at this time it would lead to recession. >> i think that the president is fully aware as are democrats and anybody realistic. stuart: you make that judgment. >> i am not a fan, by the way, never have been, i thought the fiscal cliff thing was ridiculous in the beginning. no, no, but prefacing my answer to you. stuart: higher taxes of this magnitude on an economy that's already weak with 8% unemployment, you do that and now it's not-- >> no, no, no, i do not believe that raising the marginal tax rates to the clinton rates for the wealthiest among us-- >> i knew you were going to say that, you're comparing a totally different economy. what we have now is 8%

unemployment. very sluggish growth and a trillion dollar deficit every year. you propose to raise taxes in that environment and you're not going to get growth. >> don't you understand you need to off set-- if you're serious about debt reduction, i think you are, don't you understand you need revenue and spending cuts. stuart: and how do you get revenues. >> how. >> please, go ahead, go ahead. stuart: it's easy you lower tax rates and keep incentive to work harder. >> we've tried that. stuart: and you can't-- what. >> george bush tried that. look at the deficit we had. stuart: well, wait a minute you cannot rewrite economic history. after george bush lowered tax rates the return to the treasury, the money coming into the treasury went way up and the deficit, by the way, in 2007 was 167 billion dollars. >> so. stuart: president obama has got, 167 billion a month just about. don't rewrite economic history, julie. >> i'm not rewriting economic history. stuart: you are. >> i'm not-- >> i'm telling you if you lower tax rates you'll get more

revenue. >> that's how do you it. >> i think history showed whether it's ronald reagan or-- >> ronald reagan, george w. bush and-- >> your a telling me that ronald reagan was not increasing deficits. stuart: ronald reagan increased-- >> here is what we're arguing about, you lower tax rates, you get more revenue. >> stuart. stuart: that's a lesson of economic history. >> stuart, i'm sorry. stuart: it is. >> the lesson of the reagan years and bush years, you-- >> it's factually true that when you lower rates, ronald reagan did it, dramatic lower of rates, the revenue to the treasury doubled in five years. that's true. >> are you telling me. stuart: you're saying, oh, he left a deficit. it was congressional spending that led it a deficit. let's get back to the original argument. if you now, right now, lowered tax rates you would increase revenue to the treasury. >> you and i disagree on that. you and i disagree on that and i

know my history and-- >> you think that by imposing higher tax rates, massive tax increase. >> no, no, not on everyone, not on everyone. stuart: tell me how you're going to get growth when you raise taxes by a trillion 6. go. >> are you talking about deficit reduction or growth. if you're talking about growth. stuart: growth in the economy. >> of course it's a combination of things and it's a matter of-- i believe na a bigger stimulus, for example. stuart: do you believe if we put this plan, the president's plan into practice now. >> i don't think the president's plan will be put into practice. stuart: do you think that we'd get 4 or 5% growth? >> i don't think it's a realistic plan, i said it from day one. stuart: and if we raise taxes, that's the heart of this thing, if we raise taxes do you think we'll get 4 or 5% growth in the next years. >> stuart. stuart: answer the question he. >> i'll answer the question if you let me preface is, it's not

a yes or no. >> i don't know what the spending cuts is. you're asking me a hypothetical. stuart: totally different subject. also in the the president's plan, no more debt ceiling. he could borrow as much as he likes. what do you think would be the result? >> well, i would love to have an agreement among all parties, congressional republicans as well as barack obama and if mitt romney had become president the same thing, and the last-- absolutely. stuart: we're going to unleash borrowing? >> i think what we need-- >> take off that ceiling and allow the the president to spend what he wants and therefore, borrow. >> let's talk about your friend reagan, i think 18 times he raised the debt ceiling, so, nobody held him hostage the full faith and credit. stuart: if we do that now, no limit, there's no debt ceiling at all, and president obama could just, just borrow it. no one from congress, but borrow it, what happens. >> would i love to see some responsibility on behalf of congressional leaders.

stuart: you don't think we'd get a debt crisis. >> been threatening bond vigilantes and things in the past five years, i haven't seen it yet. stuart: unfortunately we're out of time, but i love that smile. >> thank you, i love being on with you, despite the fact, talking-- the highlight of my day knowing i was going to be with you. stuart: and i do not believe you. >> it's 100% true. it's true. stuart: julie, thank you very much indeed. i'm out of time and the opening bell is next. [ male announcer ] this is steve. he loves rk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the marke he goes with people he trusts,

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>> here comes the opening bell and we're expecting a small loss for the dow. pretty flat. i'm surprised given what we've got from the president himself and the total deadlock. however, the opening bell is ringing and we're expecting a small loss down, a tiny down trend in the opening going. that's it. i've got one number for you, personal spending, surprised by that. the dow is off and running, pretty flat. up 3 points, that's all. i've got this, yum! brands, they own the fast food outfits, taco be bell, pizza hut. and lauren is here, 9%? >> yes, 9% decline for yum!

brands right now. owner of taco bell, pizza hut and k.f.c. issuing negative in china where they do about 50% of their total annual revenue so that's huge. another thing we should note, stuart, yesterday you're looking at the share price now of just about $68. yesterday, yum! brands closed at an all time high. this is an interesting down turn. >> it is, but if you cut back at china, and results in china, you're in trouble. >> yep. >> lauren, thank you very much indeed and following up from that, i've got this. fast food workers took to the street of manhattan, and what you're looking at is mcdonald's and burger king employees, and other fast food chains, too, they want to join a union, some of them do. they want to double their pay. $15 an hour. all right, that's a labor issue number one. here is number two. the strike continuing today in california and workers at the port of los angeles and long

beach. most of the terminals shut down and the biggest issue in the dispute is outsourcing, flexing their muscle from coast to coast. two stocks we've been hitting you with. zynga and research in motion. i'm going to look at zynga, does farmville and the popular words with friends. it's now taking another hit as facebook is now allowed to create and send its own games and users of zynga games will not be able to report their progress on the social networking site. that's a big deal. the stock is down 6%. and larry, at dinah link, he's with us. you've been defender of zynga if i'm not mistaken. >> yes, i have. >> are you going to change your tune this morning? >> no, i think it's a good move. there's too much self-reliance on both companies, now they're giving each other a little bit of breathing room. now, zynga is all about on-line gaming, gambling, that's what

we're betting on. >> gambling. >> it's not words with friends, it's not farmville, no, it's on-line gambling. >> they are moving to mobile, but the on-line play is where we'll see it in stock and today, even though they went away from each other a little bit. facebook had been there, and any on-line gambling that zynga does overseas, facebook has to be a part of it. >> ah. >> now, there's a reason for that. >> hold on a second. i want to go back to zynga, really, if they've got a leg in the water of on-line gambling, why is the stock down to 2? why is it straight up? >> and the market is not seeing the moneyization to mobile. i see the moneyization of mobile and as they push that it's going to move up. stuart: you'd buy zynga right now. >> i bought it at 2 1/2 months ago. stuart: i want to move on. fair enough. i want to talk about research in motion, i put that stock on

death watch and we put it on death watch and the stock went up. where do you stand on research in motion now? >> they missed it at golden globe for best drama and oscar predictions for 2013, best drama. this stock, i do believe, is dead. and i think the down side on it is incredible. the product. stuart: really? wait a minute, they've got-- i use the blackberry. they've got the blackberry 10 coming out january 30th, i think it is. >> blackberry 10, correct. stuart: do you know anything about it? is it good. >> what i know it's not going to do well. this is why it went up, 'cause there's a lot of overshorting that's coming due so you're going to see a short squeeze, but the other issue you see analysts this thing is dead and buried and see analysts go ahead and they say, and that's a 30% chance of success rate. do you want to bet your money on 30% chance of success rate? there's no cross platforms here like the ios and android.

they can go out and get an asset sale, i don't think they will. a take-under i think will happen. i think that microsoft will come in, take it under to 5 to 7 range. the book value, 1850 i believe now around $11 and take it for the user base, the enterprise software, and the patents. stuart: okay. so, you will put research in motion on sort of a death watch? you think it's going to go way down. >> absolutely. stuart: you'll buy zynga. >> i have bought zynga. stuart: layer, directly to the point and we like that on a friday morning. >> thank you for having me. stuart: next case, totally different subject, united nations to upgrade palestinian status to a non-member observer state. clear slap in the face to the u.s. and israel and two of only 9 companies to vote against the new palestinian resolution. 138 countries voted in favor of giving palestinian the upgraded status and what happens now?

the question, are we going to give them money for this upgraded status? let's ask john boulton, former u.s. ambassador to the united nations. he joins us on the phone. it's very simple, ambassador, are we going to be paying for palestinian? >> well, i think it's going to come in very short order, this vote won't do it, but, you know, this is part of the effort by the palestinian authority over the years to pretend that it's actually a state, and to justify more assistance, i think it will try and use u.n. channels more effectively to get money and may well join other u.n. specialized agencies now that the general assembly said it's the state. ab you know, israel and the state department have tried to play down yesterday's vote, but i'm afraid unlike a lot of u.n. votes which truly are completely meaningless, this one is going to have a real effect. >> ultimately i've got about 20 seconds left. are we going to be looking at billions of american taxpayer dollars going to palestine?

>> under the obama administration, i think it's a real risk. i think they've been hostile to israel and this is one more step to make it easier for the obama people to do exactly that. >> okay. and ambassador john boulton, always a pleasure. >> thank you. stuart: coming up new at 10, the journal "science" comes out with a new study on climate change and could give even more ammunition for a global carbon tax. ammunition for new tax, that will be coming up for you at the top of this hour and as we always say, time is money and here in 30 seconds is what else we've got for you this friday morning. a man whose company managed to power an eetire island with green energy, but it was all privately funded, no subsidies, very small scale, but no subsidies, private throughout. we'll have that man sitting next to me on the set. angry staten island residents lash out at fema, they feel like they've been forgotten. we'll show you that video. illinois has had a huge pension problem, what does it do?

created a cartoon snake, squeezy the pension python, and wait until you see this. and may be waiting for a bailout. and it's a big day and i'm sure you've got your comments, keep them coming, varney@foxbusiness.com and seven early movers, yum brand, taco bell, k.f.c. et cetera, et cetera and weak sales, china's economy is slowing and half of yum! brands revenue comes from china and there it goes. then we've the zumiez, the teenage clothing stores, disappointing guidance for the november sales and blames superstorm sandy and five below, the name says it all. everything in the store $5 or less. and posted a profit this time around and is that 8? yeah. ultra salon cosmetics, strong

profits, rich women buying makeup. up it goes. whole foods, one of my favorite stocks, whole food stores, upscale grocery store paying them a special dividend this year. this calendar year of course, and what may be a big tax increase on dividends next year. what will their liberal customers think of that? the stock is up. and pharmaceuticals, same thing, one time dividend, two bucks a share and this is only a-- this is a $6 stock. and he's paying $2 a share and so it's up $10% and sea gait makes computer hard drives and mixing the regular dividend by 6 cents a share and another dividend play before the end of the year, stock is up. dow industrials, flat as we suggested. we're up 8 points. we've been calling it a tax revolt and whole foods the latest to join in and billions in corporate profits paid to investors before the new year to avoid what may be higher taxes

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>> it's a pretty flat market, despite the news of president obama's i'm going to call it slap in the face to the republicans on the fiscal cliff. check the price of oil. 88 a barrel, up a little. lisp to this, we've got a huge drop in the birth rate in the united states. the recession may be to blame. 64 births per 1,000 women of chile baring age, 15-44 in 2010. that's about half of what it was in the peak of the baby boom 1957. the birth rate is way down. liz macdonald and gerri willis are here on this subject. do you have any idea what's

going on here? >> well, two sides could help explain that. first of all, mexico, for example, is doing better than it has been, fewer immigrants coming from mexico. there's a draw there right now going on in that country and here is the other thing, in this recession, two things that typically don't get hit as typically they got hit this time around. housing construction where immigrants work and farms where immigrants come in, so, these people who would typically work in these professions had their income quashed, left the country and lower birth rate. >> a great point. and when you have a lopsided society you saw it in japan, in china, in italy and basically when you have a bigger middle class and an aging society, that means a problem for the u.s. government taking care of senior citizens and we saw it in the 30's and the 70's with the oil shock and did see the birth rate in the united states decline. it's higher than italy and japan, but it's not good for an

aging society when the birth rate declines and it's shocking-- >> and support ourselves. stuart: yes. >> it's shocking that the birth rate for immigrants is dropping, too. stuart: astonishing, thanks, ladies. hold on the gold report a little early this morning, where are we now? 1,725.10, we're down just $4 this friday morning and as you know, there's a fight on capitol hill all about this fiscal cliff and the media is, as always, in the democrat's corner. that will be my opinion. and mark is next. ♪

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>> and we welcome a great guest to "varney & company," he's from the media research center. all right, bret. i want to show you three headlines ripped from the news this morning. first off, the headline in the new york times reads g.o.p. balks at white house plan on fiscal cliff. and second, huffington post this mork, surprise, g.o.p. outrage by offer they received weeks ago and from nbc news, the g.o.p. says white house offer on fiscal cliff is unbalanced. bret, tell me i'm wrong here, it seems like the media is setting unto blame the republican for this outrageous offer from the president, go. >> what's the offer? what? >> a massive tax increase, no entitlement reform and no restraint on borrowing.

now, there's an offer. >> in other words, in other words, there's no plan. this should be a story that the whole debate has been going on for two years about having a package of spending cuts to go along with the package of tax increases. and now, we've got the senate saying, that the one problem, entitlements is now off the table, and meaning they're no longer serious and the white house saying we don't have plans to cut anything. in other words, there is no plan. that should be the story. and just like, stuart, the entirety of 2012 campaign. nobody brought up that the barack obama didn't have a plan the entire-- it's mind-boggling. stuart: i'm looking at the so-called offer, if implemented would put mesh--

measured america straight into recession. and saying it's the republican's fault rejected from the president. >> the only thing they care about are tax increases oo the greedy rich. they know it's all an farce. and they know if you have a debt of 80 billion and-- >> i disagree, i think they, they don't know that. they don't know that tax increases result in a less-- >> and they want tax increases because they're neo socialists. >> and here is the dishonesty, i have seen story after story after story hammering republicans about the need to break their pledge to grover norquist. look, this wasn't a pledge of tax cuts to grover norquist. i can guarantee you, every singleerepublican and some

democrats, too, running for congress or the senate, i guarantee you, every single one pledged to their constituents, i wasn't raise your taxes, every single one did, so, everyone who breaks that pledge is making a promise to his constituents. that was the story. stuart: yes, all right. now, what we're going to do? what are we going to do in the future? what's going on here? >> well, i think, i think what you've got is a cancer that is exploding debt and what they're looking for is the right bandaid to put on it to tell america, we just got over that hump and you know darn well in january they're coming right back with the next fiscal disaster and look for the next bandaid to put it on it. no one is responsible, not the republican and not the democrats. >> i think we have the campaign in chief and i think we're setting up a debt crisis at some point in the future. the thing about removing the debt ceiling forever taking away any congressional authority over

future borrowing, why isn't that headline news across america? why isn't it there? >> if this, this man, obama is scaring me, i'm telling you, he's taking more and more power on to himself and taunting the congress, taunting the courts in his presidential addresses, taunting them and telling them, and in fact, he's taking absolute power these days, this is scary, scary stuff. we cannot continue doing this. this country is going to fall apart. you know this. >> well, the president is at a toy factory today, a plastics plant, i believe, in pennsylvania and he's still campaigning, he's there and i'm sure the liberal media are following. >> and anything that destroyed, coming back, if the federal government takes it over it will be well. stuart: that was your last word, bret. but it was a good one. >> thank you. stuart: new at ten, there's new

hard evidence that the ice caps are melting. it's true. will it give the climate change crowd a new initiative to push for a tax and more on the fiscal cliff proposal, that's coming up. axiron, the on underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness

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compelling evidence yet of global warming, a study in the journal science says high temperatures are melting the polar ice sheets at a faster rate causing rising sea levels. financial question, will the carbon tax fix the problem and the big story is president obama going on the road to sell is newly unveiled a plan to look at the fiscal cliff, that plan, higher taxes, new spending, no debt limit, no entitlement reform. personally i am calling it a disaster. we are on it. not much change for stock prices around the 13,000 level up 13 points. elizabeth macdonald is here, gerri willis is here and lauren simonetti on the floor of the stock exchange. they are offering a special dividend trying to avoid next year's factors.

nicole: it is up nicely. the potential tax hikes next year, and they are issuing a special tax dividend payable december 21st of $2 a share, stock is up 4%. stuart: we have a 175 or more, it is 175. issuing billions and billions before the end of the year. i'm calling that tax revolts. thank you very much, dan industrials up 12, back to the big story. president obama sends treasury secretary tim geithner to capitol hill, presented an offer to republicans. he knew there was no way republicans could accept it. here it is,$.6 trillion in tax increases spread over ten years, $50 billion in new stimulus infrastructure spending, new power for the president to control the debt ceiling. get rid of the debt ceiling, and controlled borrowing by the

president with no congressional authority. maybe this is his opening gambit but i don't think it is a serious offer. i think it is a slap in the face. gerri: it also says economic policies didn't work, we know that net -- we need $50 billion in stimulus spending but your take away is the right one and it is about the debt ceiling. if anyone suggested this it would be front-page headlines. this is an imperial presidency saying we want what we want, we want the check book, handed over. we want to spend wherever we can. stuart: suppose the president's plan, huge tax increases, et cetera, supposing that will put in place on january 1st, what will it do to the economy? gerri: a double dip recession. the top-10% pay 71% of federal income-tax share, we know that. the idea being the president

continuously is self-defeating, the media establishment does not report the story correctly. the new york times and msn b.c. the point being we have massive out of control spending, that should be the first paragraph of every story. time and again i covered taxes for years and testified before congress about iras and tax reform, charlie rangel said at the hearing that i testified that when we were talking flat taxes that it wouldn't bring in government revenues the government needs. the growth very doesn't sit in the office of harry reid or charlie rangel. the idea is the president is continuously habitually self-defeating. if you tax the upper brackets will crush small business and legal $160 billion into the federal government, not enough to run the government of you month. >> where is the balance? president talk about balance. his plan has no balance. we have $1.6 trillion in additional taxes, ever found. stuart: where is entitled reform?

where is anything? entitlement heartbreak in america's back. liz: floating the bill for social security first time ever going into the red. the government has become less capable as it has gotten bigger. ask the hurricanes and the victims how the government responds. stuart: we have got that leader in the show. i want to bring in the wall street journal, kimberly, welcome to the program, always good to have you on board. i am getting all head up here. i am. this so-called offer from the president announced to a slap in the face, just sticking it to america. i want to know what you think. >> i think you are right at you guys were talking about how and sirius this is as a recipe to deal with the economic misfortune we have and this is going to add to it but this is absolutely -- negotiating paper, to put this in perspective what

the government -- what the president sent to john boehner was more than he was asking for with debt negotiations. when the configuration in washington was to lead the same, what the senate was able to pass even when it had a filibuster, far in excess of what he campaigned on himself, something out of law land, where three weeks from the fiscal cliff, this is a serious -- almost a way to guarantee you put a stall on these negotiations or set them back ritter and understand what he is playing at. stuart: this is supposed to be just the first initial negotiating position. >> we don't have time. stuart: i had a democratic strategist earlier on the show who said don't worry about this. this is not a final result. this is not what they are trying for. just an opening gambit. what do you make of that? >> we have three weeks ago and they have wasted three weeks. john boehner offered a compromise and said you can have revenue.

you asked for revenue, you asked it to come from the wealthy and we're giving it to you. let's talk about the form of what you take. the president refused to accept that offer and is starting all the way back before the beginning line with this offer nobody can accept. there is a very worrisome suspicion that is growing among some republicans in washington that this is purposeful. the president is attempting to run out the clock with a bunch of low proposals to the republicans in the corner and make them rush in the middle of a panic as we are about to fall off of the cliff to cut a deal. stuart: here's my problem. if you get a deal, anything like what the president has proposed, or if you go over the fiscal cliff full tilt, either way, you will have a recession and president obama's second term starts on a very negative note for the american economy. >> you put your finger on the problem. the point of having these fiscal cliff negotiations is to avoid what could lead to a recession,

to avoid a calamity. the proposal your putting forward leaves you with an even worse position than you are now, what is the purpose of this? stuart: stay there for a second. i want to get the company's opinion on the raising of the debt ceiling. it is and abolition of the debt ceiling so the president and borrow whatever he wants without congressional authority. >> extraordinary power grab like we haven't seen in a long time. washington d.c. has been in bubble bland. we are in a government bubble. washington d.c. is disconnected from the reality of real-estate going up but the issue is washington d.c. things we are on the dot dog, or housing bubble from the bubbles stretching back to the 90s. we are no longer there. stuart: i am frightened by no debt ceiling and a person has the authority, will borrow this, just do it. liz: imperial presidency. gerri: the president what powers he shouldn't take and regular americans think this makes sense.

it does not. the thing you need to know is who pays the bill? to pay the bill? stuart: my grandchildren will pay the bill. i have seven grandchildren. just had another one added. >> congratulations. stuart: it was nothing. sorry. i am digressing and i shouldn't do that. imperial presidency. no debt ceiling. just get out and borrow because i say so. that is terrible. >> i think the democrats made a mistake in tipping their hand by including that. all of these negotiations people a try to figure out what matters to the aside, what leverage do we have and in putting that in, the president basically said i care about the debt ceiling issue. it cleared to the republicans he is very worried about spending the rest of the next four years, every three month having to sit down with the republicans and offer up a certain number of spending cuts in order to get a

return, a listing of the debt ceiling. what they did is they said some of the -- this is something we are concerned about. the proposal for sweeping powers, what it has done is made republicans realize they have a little bit more negotiating power. stuart: i am calling it a tax revolt with a couple hundred companies paying dividends early to avoid higher taxes next year. i'm calling it a tax revolt, corporations are sticking it to the treasury. what do you say? >> the great 2012 cash out. this is -- the white house can stand and say it doesn't matter and raised rates to infinity, but what the corporate world is saying, we will sell are stocks and realize capital gains and put dividend payments out to avoid the tax man, you are not getting the revenue you thought you were. stuart: we thank you for calling me down this friday morning. i do appreciate that. thank you so much. we made reference to the story

earlier this hour, the headlines may have disappeared from the news where you live but make no mistake, the damage from hurricane sandy is catastrophic. president obama promised federal help but thousands of people, that help has not arrived. listen to this. >> i guess you don't want to have to be. >> we are lost. we cannot go nowhere. i don't know what is going on here. stuart: obviously fed up and demanding help and they are not getting it. hear more outrage from staten island later on the program at 10:50 this morning. new at 10:00 new evidence shows the polar ice sheets are melting faster than ever before. the study was published in the authority of journal science. is this more ammunition for the climate change crowd to stick it to was with a carbon tax?

gerri: that is exactly what they are going to try to do. i think it is a lousy idea. a couple of numbers here. we are not the problem here. it is not the u.s. that is the problem. our emissions have fallen by 1.7% over the last decade. china up 123%. all of these developing countries are pushing out carbon emissions. it is not us. we are declining at this level. to think we need a tax to change what is going on what is happening the american people are already beyond it, already making the choices that save -- stuart: this is a forte of force. liz: i know that the glaciers are melting. i have seen them in alaska. john mccain and lindsey graham, conservatives, said the glaciers are melting. is it due to warming notion or warming atmosphere, do we need a methane can trade system because methane is worse than carbon?

some scientists said. a very controversial subject that gets heated reaction in media land. it is happening and it is happening in antarctic and greenland but how do you stop it? stuart: i don't know but i tell you this. this evidence, hard evidence will be used by the obama administration to say we have got to do something, look at hurricane sandy, we have got to do something, look at the icecaps, we have got to do something and a carbon tax will bring in money which is exactly what they want. >> he will leverage a mass delusion, connecting the dots, when you mention the hurricane we have fewer hurricanes making landfall now -- liz: the cap and trade system has a favor factory in europe which is rife with corruption. we have seen that time and again with cap and trade systems. stuart: forbes says 11 states are in a death spiral, billions in debt, no end insight, ill. no exception.

what is the state's answer to the fiscal crisis? a video featuring a cartoon snake to explain the pension crisis. that is next.

stuart: president obama is leaving the white house heading to pennsylvania speaking at a plastics factory near the adelphia pitching his plan to raise taxes on a ridge. markets rose earlier this week when a compromise in the fiscal

cliff debate seemed possible and the president made his first offer. i am calling it totally unrealistic slack in the face, dow industrials are up but only nine points higher. we have a report on manufacturing, the chicago p.m. eyes slightly better than last month. verysign licenses internet domain vain did it means, if i wanted to go stuart varney.com, go through them, but puts limits on how much they can charge. that is why stock is down 15%. back in 90 seconds. we are going to see illinois and the pension pipe. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery.

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investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. stuart: we promoted this news from forbes magazine, they say 11 states are in a death spiral, their words, death spiral. no surprise illinois is on that list. the state has $233 billion pension obligation. so what is a little doing? putting a face on a problem, creating a cartoon snake named squeezey the pension python. when will they start taking this problem seriously? they are not now. joining us is christina rasmussen from the illinois policy institute. we have been through this three minute tension squeezey pike on video. they say it is called a result

of wall street crashing. that is why they aren't so much tension trouble. i didn't hear anything about a plan to deal with this crisis. what are you hearing? >> you are right. the lack of solutions from the governor is stunning. everyone knows we have a problem and we can debate over who is to blame but we need real solutions now. if a cartoon python is the best the governor has to offer we are in deeper trouble than we thought. stuart: in the absence of a solid firm plan to deal with this enormous pension problem, argues saying that one of their options in illinois is to go straight to d.c. and say we need a bailout, we did vote for president obama in the last election. give us a bailout. they you think that will happen? >> and all too real possibility. the governor refuses to rule out asking or accepting future federal bailout and a freeze keep sitting on our hands doing nothing the problem will get

worse and that will be a federal bailout. and ask taxpayers of other states, folks who have their act together to fix our politicians's mess. >> i have been saying for a long time i think a bailout request will come. maybe they are denying it but i think it is going to come. in california same situation, ill. same situation. both of those that -- voted for president obama, a bailout request is coming but absent that, what plan could they put in place in illinois to deal with this? got any ideas? >> it is simple, we have to follow the lead of the private sector and transition to the fine contribution plan. pensions are broke. trying to fix our system would be like bailing out the titanic with a dixie cup. you have to do right by state workers and the best way to do that is the 401(k) style. stuart: that wouldn't help now.

it might help 15 years in the future but it doesn't help now. >> there are number of things you can do to bring down payments that are supposedly squeezing out other core services, you can cap pensionable salaries and get rid of colas into the system is fixed. the other things you can do right now. stuart: why hasn't governor quinn done that? >> these ideas are not very popular with a government employee unions who bankrolled his campaign. you see the energy behind the reform proposal that you should be seeing. stuart: they are not prepared to make any kind of cuts that they're prepared to continue to see big cuts in education and health care and quite prepared to go down the road and ask dc for a bailout. that is the situation? >> they are prepared for tax hikes. we passed a major tax hike last year in a lame duck session that

hit middle-class families are. we are hearing rumblings they might make the tax hike permanent, once again putting the problem on the shoulder of our working families and small businesses. stuart: extraordinary, hold on. i have gerri willis with me. gerri: one of the potential solutions year you can't have people who are essentials reemployed ease of the public making more than the public. typically one happens public-sector workers make more in salary and benefits than people who hired them. it is unsustainable, don't you think? >> it is. take the example of a teacher who is about to retire after 30 years on the job. you will be earning first-year pension of $67,000 over the course of her retirement. that is a payout of $2.3 million and a lot of that money is coming from struggling taxpayers taxpayers trying to -- stuart: what -- >> save for their retirement fund $2.3 million.

stuart: when you work 30 years as a teacher and retired you get $67,000 a year for life. was the retirement age for teachers who put in 30 years? >> it is not high enough. folks can retire ritter 50s. a lot of folks in their 60s. we need to take that hire to 67. stuart: i don't think they will stand for it. you are going for a bailout. that is what i think. christina rasmussen, thank you for joining us. keep the commentary coming. i think this bailout is coming. thanks very much indeed. president obama may be good at politics but an opinion from me, he is bad at economics. my take on his recipe for disaster next. before copd...

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>> i would love to have an agreement among all parties, congressional republicans and barack obama and if mitt romney became president by would save the same thing. let's not hold the debt ceiling hostage. stuart: that was just a part of julie airmass power claiming the president will still be willing to compromise on fiscal liftoffs. my take on his initial proposal coming up in one minute. market check please. the big board showed a 24 point gain for the dow industrials but look at zoomys, a focus retailer

down big. on want to know why. >> they're down big hitting their lowest level of the year. i will check out five reasons it is down and also why this could be indicative of a sales trend in retail sector. third quarter sales missed expectations. fuzzy e o says back-to-school shopping in the u.s. was soft as for sales trends in europe so europe is a problem. superstorm sandy caused november sales to decline more than 4%. we are seeing that with many other retailers as well and they are optimistic thanksgiving weekend sales were brisk but many retailers are overly optimistic about the official start to the holiday shopping season even though a lot of people were just buying blockbusters and discounted items. stuart: you are right. the stores were jammed packed. those early deals, got it but they didn't buy very much. that wasn't a vigorous shopping

day by any means. thanks very much. we will see you again shortly. the obama administration has thrown billions of your taxpayer dollars and big projects making clean energy. on a large scale just does not make economic sense, but at 10:35 we bring you a perfect example of how to do it right. here is my take on president obama's plan for the economy. is a disaster. it is and arrogance lack in the face delivered to an already struggling america. sounds harsh but that is the way i see it. we have already gone through what the president wants, told you all about it. i will do again to make everything clear. $1.6 trillion taken out of the private sector in higher taxes. no spending cuts. he wants spending increases and unlimited borrowing authority. run up the debt, no restraints

at all. just put politics aside. what would this plant to for our economy? slowdown even more guaranteed, raise the unemployment rate, make us even more like europe. this tax, spend and borrow plan will not give america the growth we so desperately need. consider the timing. right now we have 8% unemployment, less than 3% growth and trillion dollar deficit every year. we are spending $9 billion a week in interest in the death. imposing those tax hikes now is simply bad economic policy, taking all restraints off of borrowing caused disaster. we need 5% growth. we are not going to get it like this. yet again president obama is reviewing his inner self. he is driven by a hard left ideology. take from this group, redistribute, government is everything. clearly the president is good at politics. he won the election but lousy

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stuart: look at this surveillance video. it is the exact moment a man in maryland found a copy of all six numbers and won power ball

jackpot. he is a construction worker. he bought his ticket in arizona but checked his ticket in maryland. that is what witnesses say. he is a happy guy. he is checking it, taking it into the light and looking at -- that is rejoicing i do believe. speaking of power ball the state of california, lottery commission voted thursday to allow residents to play power ball starting in the spring, that could bring $100 million to the formerly golden state. maybe you heard of a tiny island in the south pacific, the entire island is powered entirely by green energy. it has done that by company called excise technology and joining us is the ceo of excise technology. welcome to the program. i have been saying for a long time this huge wind and solar

projects do not work but on a very small scale, literally individual offices and how those, solar and wind does work. that is what you have done. >> exactly right. we have taken a proven technology and gone to relocation where there is no other solution. diesel generators and trucking diesel across the ocean. stuart: when you have a lot of sunshine in the south pacific. >> clearly. and power cells on every house. that is how you did it? >> a larger array on these that make up the island, 4,000 solar panels stacked up with our batteries. stuart: any subsidies involved? >> international development, in new zealand, totally funded. stuart: the update for the installation of all this, do they get their money back? >> i don't know what the

arrangement is. they didn't write it. stuart: any wind power? >> it is all solar. stuart: is an island chain? >> 500 miles north -- 1500 people total. stuart: a tiny speck. that is a spec any way you slice it. how big is it? you link it to central park. >> a bit larger but not much. 1500 people total. stuart: totally green. do you agree with my basic premise which is these huge wind farms that creates some wind energy, you can't transport electricity without losing it in the power lines. big projects don't work but small project like yours do. do you agree? >> by and large that is true. i started my career in solar years ago. you have to justify its supper

applications the alternative, very expensive, absolutely a good idea. stuart: you could use this principle, small-scale, you could use that to a small community in america somewhat. >> it is economically justifiable. there's another source of power. stuart: it would not be economically viable if you put this small town in arizona for example. >> depends what their source of energy is. it may not. stuart: you are a lifetime in solar? >> lifetime engineering, that was my first -- dave: have you ever been there? >> it is difficult to get to. they have one very every two weeks and if you miss the u.s. and other two weeks. stuart: what do people do their? >> they enjoy it and i solar energy they have, there is an

agricultural community. stuart: will you do this on another island? >> we don't have the contract. it is the great opportunity to improve the technology we have and use it in a new way that helps people. stuart: that is your commercial. what is the out the door cost to wire up solar power, 1500 people in the south pacific? >> couldn't tell you -- >> with your contract for? >> $2 million. stuart: for fifteen million people. are you coming kicking new zealand taxpayer dollars and spending them on three atolls in the south pacific? >> it made sense for us but makes sense for people who live there. stuart: e.u. glad you can manage the? >> absolutely. stuart: maybe we will have you. excise technologies ceo, thank you for joining us. i am calling it a recipe for

economic disaster. the president, tax more, spend more, forget about that and could be disastrous for the economy as a whole and the housing market in particular. we will deal with that.

stuart: it is friday morning. the dow industrials are up six points. manufacturing report shows slight growth in that sector,

chicago p.m. i, no market reaction. continuing to attract a growing list of companies paying out special dividends, 200 companies doing it so far. whole foods' latest, $2 per share, you get the money december 21st. companies trying to prevent a big increase in the tax rate on dividends that may hit next year. , as it goes a $2 a share, this is only a $7 stock so it is a lot. finally seagate technology's moving up the payment date with regular dividend. could normally paid in february, now going to pay december 28th as well, joining what i call the tax revolt. back in 90 seconds.

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they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. stuart: courtney talking to a guest before we get to her but one last check with lauren simonetti on the floor of the stock exchange because i want to hear about yum brands. >> 50% of their business in china at issue in a negative outlook, fourth quarter sales and also the full year, lower expectations so really selling 10%. just yesterday this stock hit an all-time high of $75 a share. stuart: you don't do well in china or the stock exchange. that is the way it is. we have seen some numbers that point to a modest housing rebound. seems to be the one area of the

economy that is improving a little bit. will the president's plan for the fiscal cliff it it were put in place suck out the light from the housing market? would it? morgan brennan with forms magazine. here is my premise. the president wants huge increases in taxes, no entitlement reform and open season on borrowing as much money as you like. i save that slows the economy and hurt housing and you say what? >> has the potential to hurt housing especially the idea of tax increases and families making $215,000 or more. we are in new york city, they are taking them to $50,000 or more is middle class so i think if you start to take the income away your going to see americans start to full back on the home they buy. stuart: slows the whole economy and housing with as well. there is another situation. a don't know if it was in the president's plan, putting some kind of cap on mortgage interest

deduction, a bigger cap then there is now. what does that do to the housing market? >> that is proposed, and from 35% to 20%. that would for a family, maybe rights of on interest deductions each year, that is going to drop and get $7,000 in returns, that will drop $1,500. that is not a huge difference. if you are going to close loopholes that should be considered. i like that better than raising taxes. stuart: middle-class america would not be affected directly by a cap on the deduction? >> not necessarily. looking at the data for the average price of a new home, $300,000 and for existing homes has been $200,000 so americans

making the most and seeing the most benefit on mortgage interest deduction, not going to -- liz: what is interesting about the mortgage interest deduction lot of middle-class taxpayers benefit from it in states that take the most in mortgage interest deductions, that is california. what do you think that would do in california to cap the mortgage interest deduction because california has been under water in real-estate. >> great question. california is looking at the newest data and one of the places where the housing market is trying to comm back the strongest. it could definitely have an effect in california and have an affect on the east coast as well. stuart: wouldn't it be a serious hit on california housing? they already raised their top tax rate and dated it to january 1st retroactive and now you cap the mortgage interest deduction even if you cap it a little bit, i can't see how that would be -- i won't said

disaster for california real-estate but really bad. >> it could have an affect but the idea of raising taxes will have a larger effect. stuart: that is worse. the worst thing you can do is raise tax rates, much worse than capping the mortgage interest deduction. >> i would take a step further and say the fact we haven't found a plan for the so-called fiscal cliff has been the biggest issue because that more than anything, the uncertainty and the effect that is having on the economy, not necessarily willing to hire until we know what is going on. that more than anything is the thing that could affect the economy and housing. stuart: we have been saying all day that the president's plan that he stuck to the republicans yesterday as a disaster for the economy, going over the cliff is a disaster for the economy. the dow jones industrial average is up five points. there is no impact on the stock market from the disastrous proposal from the president. gerri: i was going to go back to

the mortgage deduction. you do a good job breaking up the numbers and what would would mean on the bottom line but it is really about psychology in the housing market and psychology is not good. i don't care what the number the doing. stuart: any restrictions on mortgage interest deduction politicians would take and say just look what you are doing with the great middle class program. they would demagogue it to death. >> good point. national association of realtors put out a number that the mortgage interest deduction was taken away you would see home prices put down 15%. [talking over each other] stuart: with what those other people are doing, taking away but nobody is suggesting the mortgage interest deduction goes. nobody. i think we are in agreement. >> i think we are. stuart: we manage to agree with everybody eventually. >> note disaster plan.

stuart: thank you very much. superstorm sandy caused billions of dollars worth of damage. president obama promised to help but presidents of staten island, new york city are not getting it. elizabeth macdonald has been reporting from that area since sandy hit, even volunteering her time to help the recovery. we get a reaction to this in just a moment. looked at this. >> i guess you don't want to have to be. >> we are totally lost. we cannot go nowhere. i don't know what is going on here. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. but when i was in an accident... break from the holiday stress. i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life.

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>> going around in circles, everyone of these people here -- >> [shouting] stuart: clearly angry residents in staten island, new york, think they have been forgotten by the federal year emergency management association -- agency. the new cycle has moved on perhaps because of the election but we have not forgotten the story.

liz macdonald, you have been in staten island many times. i don't think many people outside this area really understand the extent of damage done. i think was worse than katrina. liz: it is in many respects worse than katrina, more power outages, more homes destroyed. that meeting was a mob last night. people were brought to tears. we only got $150 in insurance checks, 700 people, lashing out at both sides of the aisle, doing things like telling people the air quality is okay when it is not. this is coming at the time when the fiscal cliff negotiations, this shows a perfect example of the distractions focusing on big guzzler sodas or bicycle lanes in new york city when this is what the government should be doing, protecting people from natural disasters. stuart: why would you expect the government to be the best agency to take care of emergencies like this?

is the only agency, i understand that the government does not do a good job. why do we expect them to be stellar, efficient performers? liz: clearly lowering expectations shows in disasters like this, people helping each other, charities stepping in and regular people helping each other is what this story was about. what about us? you can't let the story get out of the headlines or be ignored. lot of people across even fox business have been reaching out to help them. not just me but other people. stuart: tell me what you did. liz: i don't want to get into what we did but we tried to -- [talking over each other] >> she led the way and it is important to have our first mover. liz: i am worried that as we report on this, this is slipping from the headlines, this is again, the best example of why we need government to focus on the most important things,

threats to the population. >> it made the mayor of the city look small. stuart: tell me the dollar numbers again. new york state alone, $42 billion and it is similar in new jersey. liz: it is $29 billion in new jersey. stuart: you are looking above $70 billion. liz: and climbing and cut approach hurricane katrina levels. i am not saying it will but surprising to me this story is no longer in the headlines anymore and it showed how upset people were brought to tears by lack of response they needed. stuart: well done. good for you. i'm going to change subjects. i want you to take a look at this. there are still people giving back. they are calling him sandy costanza. he went around staten island and was handing out $100 bills.

that is what he was doing. walking around just handing it out. private sector here, i am going to do some good with this. i think that is terrific. that is the way you really do help people. nothing wrong with that. do you have tears in your eyes? liz: she is crying. she is a great person and worried about raising taxes for what? when it is shows that this does not really work. stuart: time is up. highlight reel coming up next.

stuart: the highlight reel. >> the president talked about balance. his plan has no balance. we has 1.6 trillion additional taxes. >> we have massive out of control government spending. >> we have three weeks to go. they have already wasted three weeks.

john boehner came out and issued a compromise. here we are giving it to you. stuart: he knew there was no way the republicans could accept it. >> it also says our economic policies did not work. the president has refused to accept that offer. stuart: it is a friday right before the holidays. i have to and the program with that. the president's plan. what he stuck to the republicans is a plan for economic disaster. that is what i think. >> i agree with you. >> in a time where we have some way politicians naming buildings after themselves and using taxpayer money to do it. look at france. stuart: france. i am glad you mentioned